Bad Neighbor, Bad Brother

By Andrew Williams – August 29, 2021

“In the day that you stood on the other side— In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem— Even you were as one of them. “But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother In the day of his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah In the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly In the day of distress.” Obadiah 1:11- 12NKJV

Good morning fellow disciples.

We should all be familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan who offered help to a stranger( a Jew who would have probably despised him in another situation), while two fellow religious Jews offered none. We know that Edom and Israel were descended from twin brothers. As relatives they should have been looking out for each other, but this is not what we see in this passage.

When Israel was taken away as captives by conquering nations, their brother Edom did not lift a hand to help them in their time of need. They stood by and looked, not only that, they also rejoiced and they even participated in raiding Israel. Edom was indeed a bad neighbor and a bad brother! They even “spoke proudly in the day of Israel’s distress”.

Many of us have been in the place of Israel where we have been going under oppression and our neighbors or family treated us badly. They look on, act along with our oppressors and act haughtily while we are being oppressed. Also, some of us may be the ones who are behaving like Edom. Regardless of who we identify as in this story, we need to seek God’s face.

Prayer : God, am I Israel or am I Edom ? If I am Israel, then it means that I sinned against You so much that You allowed other nations to take me captive. If I am Edom, then it means that I also sinned by not helping my brother in the time of his need, and I also attacked him.

Either way I will be judged ! God I repent of my sins! I turn to You now God and I change from my wicked wicked ways. Help me to act as Your son would and help me to stop being a bad neighbor and a bad brother. I will be a good brother just like Jesus Christ my Lord, amen.